Portrait of a Government Official

1921

Portrait of a Government Official, 1921. Chae Yongshin (Korean, 1848–1941). Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk; overall: 156.4 x 87.3 cm (61 9/16 x 34 3/8 in.); painting only: 127 x 71.1 cm (50 x 28 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2020.259 Wearing a dark-green court uniform, a man is seated in a chair covered with a leopard skin, a gift from the royal court to a newly appointed officer. The embroidered rank badge with a design of a single flying crane identifies the sitter’s bureaucratic status: the third ranked officer. In this work, the painter Chae Yongshin (1848–1941) rendered a newly promoted government official's shy smile, giving a glimpse into his mixed feelings of confidence and anxiety about his future professional career. It was European photography introduced to Korea in the end of the 19th century that most inspired Chae’s naturalistic approach to his subject.